The Underbelly of China's Food Delivery Industry: The Harsh Reality for Drivers

 Profiting Off a Booming Industry 

“I would never tell my customers that my child was sick or that I was struggling,” Zhang Weichao says. “Why should people feel sorry for me?”

For years, Zhang has worked as a takeout deliveryman for one of China’s largest on-demand delivery providers, Meituan. Despite his seven-year-old son being diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, leading to his hospitalization, Zhang remains optimistic and committed to his work. “The job suits me, and it allows me to save money for my son.” 

 China is officially the world's largest food delivery market. The "2024 China Catering Industry Annual Report," released by the China Restaurant Association, reveals that a total of 545 million citizens had their food delivered, and the industry grosses approximately 1.2 trillion yuan (or $168 billion USD) annually. Last year, there were an estimated 12 million food delivery workers in China, and that number has likely grown since then, with Meituan and Ele.me, the two biggest platforms, employing 7.45 million and 4 million active riders, respectively. The incredible size of this sector is partly due to the lure of convenience: not only can customers stay in the comfort of their homes, they save time and energy that would otherwise be spent cooking or dining out. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many residents were barred from leaving their homes, delivery workers played a critical role keeping communities afloat, since they were tasked with transporting essential goods like food, medicine, and other daily necessities. Lao Ji, one of the thousands of delivery workers in Wuhan, brought meals and supplies to doctors and hospitals during that difficult time. "Doctors are saving lives, but they need to eat to have the strength to work,” he stated. Continuing, he said that he was not afraid, and that with his mask securely fastened, he felt ready to go anywhere. He rushed around for his neighbors and clients, hurrying to pharmacies, supermarkets and hospitals, helping the elderly shop, bringing textbooks to students, and in some cases even helping to feed pets.

Optimal Choices, Harsh Conditions

According to a survey conducted by the Beijing News in 2020, the top three reasons people become a delivery worker are the flexibility of working hours, the stable and high earnings, and the minimal skill requirements.

The survey also found that 85.6% of Chinese food delivery workers possess a high school-level of education or below. In China, there are limited career choices for workers with this level of education, and many choose to become factory workers that earn meager wages, serve as hotel staff members thousands of kilometers from home, or chase after unreliable bosses for unpaid wages at construction sites. Compared to those jobs, working as a food delivery worker provides a relatively stable employment opportunity with a decent income.

In 2023, the “China Blue-Collar Employment Research Report" showed that the average monthly income of food delivery workers was 6,803 yuan ($934 USD). This was higher than the average monthly income of 6,043 yuan ($830 USD) for blue-collar workers, and ranks among the top three in terms of income for employees without a college degree. The pay-per-order model also offers riders like Zhang a relatively stable income. “I can earn over 10,000 yuan a month ($1373 USD) if I work more than 10 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he said. “This money helps cover our current household expenses as well as the medical expenses for my son.”

Additionally, since takeout delivery work does not have strictly defined hours, their schedules can be adjusted to accommodate their personal needs. Zhong Li is one such example. As a single mom with a one-year-old daughter, Li describes her situation: “I am raising my daughter alone, so I need a job with relatively high income as well as flexible hours, and it is one of the few optimal job choices available at the moment for me. I think many mothers choose this job for the same reason—we need a stable income and flexible hours to care for our families.”

Growing Responsibilities, Shrinking Incomes 

In August 2024, a viral video from Hangzhou showed a delivery driver kneeling before a security guard after being fined for climbing a fence to save time. This event greatly intensified the public discussion about the challenges faced by the 12 million Chinese delivery riders who are operating under uncertain, often difficult conditions.  Delivery workers are under intense pressure to make speedy deliveries, since late deliveries can and do result in complaints and fines. According to a Meituan delivery rider’s feedback: “40%-70% of the-per order income gets deducted for a delay,” and “I can’t fight against the delivery time allocated by the system, so if I don’t break traffic rules, the income I could earn in a day could be halved.”

These strict on-time delivery rules have led countless workers to run red lights, exceed the speed limit, and even get in harmful and sometimes fatal accidents. As Zhang recalls, “One rainy day, I was running late with a delivery and the customer cancelled the order. I was immediately fined 50 yuan ($6.8 USD) by the platform, no questions asked, and my first thought was that a third of my son’s daily hospital fee was gone.” 

Within the hierarchy of the food delivery industry, delivery workers are at the bottom of the pyramid, below the restaurants, customers, and the delivery companies themselves. The system's estimated delivery time starts counting when a customer places an order and only stops when the rider delivers the food to the customer. However, many restaurants intentionally start preparing the meal after the rider arrives to ensure the quality of the food. When delays in food preparation lead to late deliveries, only the delivery workers are penalized. Additionally, restaurants and customers are allowed to rate and complain about delivery workers, but the workers have no means to rate them. Sometimes, delivery workers are forced to even take the blame for the restaurants’ failures, since complaints about the food often appear in the workers’ negative review sections. 

On top of the pressures faced by food delivery workers, the paychecks have started to shrink. According to Meituan's annual reports for 2023 and 2024, the average amount earned from one delivery was a meager 3.65 yuan ($0.5 USD), which was 12% lower than the 4.17 yuan ($0.57 USD) average in 2023. “They are working long hours, really being squeezed,” said Jenny Chan, an Associate Professor of sociology at Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, “and they will continue to face pressure as delivery platforms have to keep the cost low.” For these reasons, many riders have appealed to change the system, but almost none of the appeals have been successful.

Necessary Reforms 

The Chinese government has made some progress in protecting these workers. Last year, the two largest food delivery companies piloted an anti-fatigue system that sent messages to workers after 8 hours of continuous work and automatically logged them off for a break after 12 hours of deliveries. Despite these efforts, the dominance of the major food delivery platforms means that they can shift the cost burden to their workers by cutting corners and leaving few opportunities for them to push for better wages and working conditions. In 2020, Meituan launched an appeal system, but many riders have reported that when they reasonably appeal customer negative reviews, a significant number of these appeals are not approved instantly by the system. Even if they manage to contact a customer service representative, they are often told that the representative does not have the authority to cancel the penalty. “I don't have time to be upset over fines, because I know arguing with the company is futile most of the time. If I stop making deliveries, what happens to my son?” said Zhang. 

Another key element complicating the situation of delivery workers is China’s “hukou system.” This system restricts rural migrants from enjoying the same rights and access to public services as their urban counterparts. As a result, many migrant delivery riders lack access to essential social welfare services such as housing, healthcare, and education. With their labor officially tagged as "flexible employment," they are not bound by formal employment contracts. It is reassuring that Meituan has begun taking steps in this area. In 2022, a nationwide pilot program was initiated, in which about 4.5 million delivery workers were covered by insurance for occupational injuries. However, other necessary worker protections, such as unemployment, medical, maternity, and pension contributions are still lacking. “We need to buy necessary insurance by ourselves if we are not covered by the company, because this is a high-risk job,” said Zhang. “The cost of medical treatment and lost wages could impose an unbearable financial burden on us.” 

Significant changes are still necessary to protect delivery workers’ fundamental rights. As Zhang said, “This is a high-risk, low-prestige job, and without the overdue changes, I will consider changing fields after my son recovers.”

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